Once babies start becoming mobile, diaper changes can become a real struggle. A diaper change can quickly turn into an experience dreaded by both babies and their parents.
I know because I've been there! When my son started crawling, he began squirming and resisting diaper changes with all his might. He protested with with screams and kicks. Sometimes he turned over and started crawling away. So it was under those circumstances that I began my search for some ways to make our experiences more positive. Hopefully something here will help you if your child hates diaper changes.
- Set a good example. Take a look at how you approach diaper changes. Do you feel annoyed, impatient, happy, etc.? Whatever your attitude is, your child may sense it and react accordingly.
When you change a poopy diaper, what do you say? What does your face say? Do you say, "Ewwwww, it's a stinky diaper"? Or perhaps you have said, "Oh, no, you wet your diaper already? I just changed it!"
Try to be as positive as you can, and see if some of it rubs off on your child.
- Change diapers as soon after your child goes as possible. Sometimes parents feel like putting diaper changes off; this may be especially true if your child hates diaper changes. But try your best to change them soon after he goes, because--not only is it better for his skin--he is less likely to become comfortable with the feeling of wearing a wet or poopy diaper.
- Change the diaper as quickly as possible. Be sure to have all your diapering supplies close at hand so your child doesn't have to wait any longer than necessary, and also so that you are not distracted looking for something when you should be making sure your child doesn't fall off the changing table (if you use one). If you change his diaper wherever you are in the house, to make this easy, put all your supplies in a basket that you can quickly grab and take to the place where you are going to change the diaper.
- Make diaper changes as fun as possible. As he lets you, interact with him during the diaper changes. If you start this when he is a little baby, he will probably bring some positive feelings about diaper changes with him as he gets older. Some parents give their young babies short massages during diaper changes. You can sing to him and try doing little rhyme games with his toes like "This Little Piggy Went to Market."
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